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Government: More planning against future crises needed

Potential terror attacks

ATLANTA - More than three years after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, many state health departments are not prepared for future crises, a government official said Wednesday.

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Fewer than one in four states can respond 24-hours-a-day to alerts from hospitals about patients possibly suffering from biological or chemical attacks. Many states still have not reviewed laws and rules for quarantine, said William Raub of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. And many states are not able to immunize large groups of people from an emergency government supply of life-saving vaccines, said Raub, the department's principal deputy assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness.